Lighters (song)
|- | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| |} |} "Lighters" is a song by the American hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil, a group composed of Royce da 5'9" and Eminem. As the second single from their first EP, Hell: The Sequel, Shady Records serviced the song for mainstream radio airplay in the United States on July 5, 2011. The song features the American singer Bruno Mars, who was added after the original cut. The song was written and produced by Eminem, Battle Roy and The Smeezingtons. Eminem and Royce da 5'9" took a different approach, wanting to break the typical album format that stereotypical hip hop artists use. "Lighters" is an alternative hip hop song that has been said by critics to incorporate soul music, as well as influences of synthpop. It is noted for being different in style from any other song on the EP. The song features bass, cymbals and keyboards with percussion used in most of the song. The song was met with mixed reviews; some critics praised the change in style, as a break from more hardcore and aggressive themes of the other tracks found in Hell: The Sequel, while others criticized it for the same reason. Despite the mixed reception, the song performed generally well commercially, reaching the top ten in New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. "Lighters" was performed at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and the Lollapalooza music festival. The accompanying music video was shot in July 2011 and was directed by Rich Lee. The two rappers guide themselves through an underground tunnel with pipelines as red highway flares illuminate the setting, to reach an event by night. The video was met with positive reception for its positive and inspirational message. Reception Critical response Critics were divided in their reactions to "Lighters". Most critics commented on the difference of style the song has compared to other songs on Hell: The Sequel. This was met with both positive and negative reception. Rob Markman from MTV News spoke about his opinion on the new song after it leaked on June 3, 2011, which was a positive one. He wasn't surprised to hear Eminem's performance. "It's hard to imagine a time when Eminem wasn't regarded as one of rap's elite, but his past drug abuse did take its toll before he reemerged triumphant on last year's Grammy Award-winning album Recovery." He also commented on Royce da 5'9"'s verse; "The gritty Detroit MC recalls his own battles to the top, referencing doubters at every turn." Billboard editor Jason Lipshutz published a track-by-track review of each song on the album. He thought that the song did not fit in with the rest of Hell: The Sequel, but alone, is a good song: "The track doesn't fit with EP, but Em's effortless confidence carries the celebratory anthem." Jon Dolan of'' Rolling Stone'' spoke about "Lighters" in an album review: "All the evil meeting badness can get pretty ugly .... But there's genuine humanity, too." and that the song is complemented by a "soul-ballad hook." Magazine'' XXL'' commented on the song, saying it is "another break from the typical vicious lyrical assault." About.com's Bill Lamb gave a generally positive review, naming it "an engaging, soulful pop hip hop blend," but went on to mention that the song "sounds a bit schmaltzy at times." Some criticized Mars' guest appearance on the track, saying that he would have performed better on a solo track. "Lighters" was met with negative reviews as well. David Jeffries from Allmusic said that "the glossy 'Lighters' feels more like a Bruno Mars track than Detroit diesel." Consequence of Sound gave a mixed review of the EP, and a rather negative review on "Lighters". Winston Robbins believes that the chorus, by Mars, does not fit into a rap song and would have done better on a solo track or with another artist, "but it is so far from home next to the hard verses of two of rap’s bad boys." Chad Grischow of IGN gave a similar review, calling the song 'strange' and 'unusual'. Grischow did not favor the influences of "gooey synthpop" and soul fusion genres. "In the end, this brief look at the duo's skills does not fully deliver what you expect, but still leaves you wanting to hear more." Music website PopMatters said that "Lighters" was the only disappointing one of 11 tracks on the EP (Deluxe Edition) and "it’s easy to press the skip button if you’d like to." Web magazine Plugged In Online, once a magazine that published reviews from a Conservative Christian's perspective, favored Mars' rapping but harshly criticized the duo's lyricism: "These two Detroit rappers use a lot more nasty words to get the job done". The reviewer went on to analyze Royce's verse: "Toss in nods to toking marijuana and two allusions to oral sex, and you've got a pretty good picture of what Royce's vision of 'living out our dreams' looks like in action." Royce da 5'9" responded to the criticism of "Lighters" and according to him, Eminem and he wanted to be versatile with the EP. "I don’t want that audience to think that I can only do one thing. It shows versatility on my end and it was a good way to set up Slaughterhouse." Charts and certifications Certifications Year-end charts |} Lighters Reloaded "Lighters Reloaded" is a re-mix of the original song by James Harrison featuring Iggy Azalea and Kendrick Lamar and features on Harrison's fifth studio album ''Into the Abyss ''released in February 2015.